Creative editorial company Beast has secured Victoria Venantini as its East Coast sales rep. Based in New York, Venantini is an independent consultant with a proven track record in advertising and production sales, having worked with leading clients such as Moxie Pictures, Digital Domain and RSA Films. Venantini comes from a family of creatives and has a background in commercial production, cutting her teeth as an assistant to director Bob Giraldi before transitioning into sales for Coppos Films, RSA, and others. She has worked in various sales, management, and business development roles both in-house and independently with top talent in advertising creative services…The Directors Network (TDN) has signed L.A. comedy commercial director Jonathan David who recently completed another national campaign for Dunkin’ Donuts. His talent for directing performance-based comedy can be seen in hundreds of commercials for agencies both in North America and abroad. Another new director to TDN is David Jellison who is known for his ironic comedy dialogue work. He recently helmed a Florida Lottery ad; other clients include the NFL, General Mills, Honda and Target. Additionally, TDN has signed Barry Markowitz, ASC, for spot representation. Markowitz is known for such features as Crazy Heart and Sling Blade and spots for clients including the World Cup, Goodyear, Dodge and Adidas….The Skouras Agency is now representing cinematographer Nadim Carlsen for commercials and features exclusively in the U.S….Timecode Systems Ltd., which specializes in wireless technologies for sharing timecode and metadata, has appointed Grady Sellards as North American sales director. Sellards will work alongside Adam Parr, Timecode Systems’ global sales director, and the company’s U.S. master distributor, Denecke Inc., to establish Timecode Systems products in the U.S. market….
Live Events Helped Netflix Score 19 Million More Subscribers In Holiday-Season Quarter
Netflix added nearly 19 million subscribers during the holiday-season quarter to help propel its earnings beyond analysts' projections, capping the video streaming service's best year yet in a sign that its expansion into live programming is paying off.
The numbers released Tuesday covered a October-December period highlighted by Netflix's streaming of a widely watched fight between YouTube sensation Jake Paul and former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson in addition to two National Football League games on Christmas Day. Those marquee events helped Netflix to easily surpass the 13 million subscribers that picked up in the same quarter during 2023.
Although Netflix's interest in live programming is primarily tied to its efforts to sell more commercials, it also appears to be giving current subscribers another reason to stick with the service while also reeling in more viewers to pay for the service. Netflix ended last year with more than 300 million worldwide subscribers, an increase of 41 million from 2023. That eclipsed its previous best year of growth during 2020 when its service added more 36.6 million subscribers amid pandemic lockdowns that kept people corralled at home and desperate for entertainment.
Forrester Research analyst Mike Proulx thinks live programming is quickly becoming Netflix's "secret ingredient" that is helping to widen its lead over its streaming rivals. "With more choice in programming than ever before, streaming services need to differentiate," Proulx said. "FOMO (fear of missing out) is a powerful tool in piquing interest and creating stickiness."
The October-December breakdown marked the last time Netflix plans to provide a quarterly count on its total subscribers as management tries to get investors to... Read More